On This Day In Broadcasting

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February

DATE YEAR COUNTRY EVENT
1 1955 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Tacolneston entered service on channel 3.
1962 Ireland Telefís Éireann's second transmitter, at Truskmore, Co. Sligo, entered service in 405 lines on channel 11.
1971 UK Radio receiver licencing ended. A licence was only required for television from this date.
1983 UK ITV's breakfast television service from TV-AM began at 0600 with "Daybreak", a news programme, followed at 0700 by "Good Morning Britain".
2 1966 UK "Man Alive" started on BBC2.
5 1924 UK The Greenwich Time Signal was inaugurated.
1989 UK The Sky satellite television service began with four channels from the Astra 1A satellite.
1990 UK Production of the Time Signal moved to Broadcasting House.
6 1952 UK The BBC announced the death of King George VI.
1989 UK The BBC broadcast its response to the Govenment's White Paper on Broadcasting.
7 1940 Bulgaria The BBC Bulgarian radio service began.
8 1937 UK Following just over two months of long-term testing, the official BBC television service began, from the transmitter at Alexandra Palace on channel 1.
1964 UK The BBC began transmitting 405-line television on a second frequency (channel 13) from Wenvoe, in order to provide different programmes in English and Welsh simultaneously.
1965 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Grantown opened on channel 1.
1978 UK BBC1 broadcast the first ever episode of "Grange Hill", starring Todd Carty.
10 1930 UK The BBC broadcast its first in-house edited news bulletin.
1968 UK The Sudbury transmitter began broadcasting BBC2.
11 1967 UK The Dover transmitter began broadcasting BBC2.
12 1923 UK The first outside broadcast of a play from a theatre was aired on BBC radio.
1940 Sweden The BBC Swedish radio service began.
1950 Switzerland The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was formed.
1961 French-speaking countries The BBC French services for Europe and Africa were merged and extended.
13 1923 UK The BBC radio transmitter at Cardiff (5WA) entered service.
14 1968 UK BBC Radio Brighton entered service.
15 1952 UK BBC television and radio broadcast the funeral of King George VI.
1964 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Haverfordwest opened on channel 4.
1965 UK TWW obtained a second frequency (channel 7) from St Hilary, to enable simultaneous transmission of both English and Welsh, to satisfy the different audiences.
16 1991 UK BBC television idents were changed. BBC1's globe was replaced with a transparent swirling model, and BBC2 gained a whole new series of idents featuring the digit "2".
17 1924 UK The daily time signal from Big Ben began.
1956 UK The ITA transmitter at Lichfield began programme service on channel 8. The weekday service was provided by Associated Television (ATV), already broadcasting at weekends in London.
1968 UK The BBC2 transmitter at Oxford entered service.
18 1956 UK ABC Television (a division of Associated British Cinemas) began broadcasting a service to the Midlands at weekends, from the Lichfield transmitter.
1963 UK The ITA transmitter at Strabane entered service, carrying Ulster Television on channel 8.
1979 UK "Antiques Roadshow" was broadcast for the first time on BBC1.
21 1941 UK BBC premises in Swansea were destroyed by incendiary bombs.
1966 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Weardale opened on channel 1.
22 1923 UK BBC radio broadcast its first ever debate.
1965 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Toward opened on channel 5.
23 1950 UK First programme of General Election results on television.
24 1964 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Brougher Mountain opened on channel 5.
25 1971 UK BBC Radio Humberside opened.
1974 UK The Bluebell Hill UHF transmitter opened, carrying BBC services and Thames/LWT.
1980 UK BBC2 broadcast the first episode of "Yes Minister".
26 1962 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Redruth opened, on channel 1.
1972 UK The Ridge Hill transmitter began carrying BBC1 and ATV.
1981 UK BBC1 broadcast the first episode of "Hi De Hi"
28 1963 UK The BBC 405-line transmitter at Fort William opened on channel 5.
1969 UK The ITA 405-line transmitter at Ffestiniog opened, carrying Harlech Television on channel 13.
1970 UK The Waltham transmitter began broadcasting BBC1 and ATV.